1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of digital communication, and pertains more particularly to systems, hardware and software for aiding participants in communication to decide whether, and to what extent to trust other participants in communication and interaction.
2. Description of Related Art
An object of the present invention is to apply and manage concepts of trust in computerized processes. Trust, however, is not an attribute of machines such as computers, but a complicated and not completely understood attribute of human cognition and emotion. People, in interaction with other people, and also with other animals and machines, especially computerized machines, in order to function smoothly in the world, are obliged to accomplish an almost continuous flow of decisions. Although in the flow of thought for a person, such decisions are not always posed as distinct questions with distinct answers, for purposes of this discussion the decision process can be illustrated in that way. Consider two persons in conversation about almost any subject. In the back-and-forth flow of such conversation, each party has to be asking himself/herself what should I tell this person? Can I answer that question truthfully? What might be the consequences of telling this person this particular nugget of information? How well do I know this person? Has this person been truthful with me in the past? Has she kept my confidence? Can I trust her?
Every question/answer, although typically not posed in the flow of thought as a distinct question to be answered, is a step in the process of trust, and the exchange of information, or deal struck, will be shaped by the answers each person in the conversation makes to these, and other hypothetical questions. In an extreme case of distrust, one person might simply cut off the conversation, or, in another instance of complete trust, divulge a large amount of very sensitive information.
Going beyond personal conversation between people in the same room, and not employing special equipment, consider people in more remote conversation, such as by telephone. Depending on the type of telephone system and equipment used, and also on the purposes of the communication, there may be a considerable variety of typically computerized equipment involved. A person placing a call to another over a connection-oriented switched telephony (COST) system, which is a term in telecommunications art for what is also known as the “plain old telephone system” (POTS), will be using a telephone connected through a local switch, which may be computer-telephony integration (CTI) enhanced (or not), and the call may be routed over trunk lines and intermediary switches, which may be enhanced with computer functionality, to telephony equipment at the recipient's end. The purpose of such a telephone call may be a conversation between friends, or it may be a call to a person offering something for sale, or a call to a toll-free number to reach, hopefully, and agent at a call center, to seek service or information in one matter or another.
At various termination points in such a call set up there may be opportunities to record all or part of the voice exchanges. There may be uncertainty about who the person at the other end says he is. There may be questions about the competency or skill of an agent to whom one is eventually connected. There are trust issues in all of these situations and examples, and more.
Very similar issues abound in other forms of communications and transaction situations, such as email, chat sessions, Internet sales, on-line banking, remote investment management over all sorts of networks, and much more.
An object of the present invention is to teach systems, methods and means by which trustworthy transaction may be encouraged, promoted and secured, and by which untrustworthy transaction may be avoided. Means are taught in various embodiments of this invention to use intelligence at various points in networks and network apparatus to aid participants in managing their personal trust issues in communication and transaction, and to aid enterprises in managing their trust issues as well. In addition, unique apparatus and methods directly associated with physical networks are taught.